by Ana Night
When he stepped out of the shower, he dried off and got dressed. He walked back into the room to see Joker standing by the window, a phone to his ear. He was only wearing a pair of dark jeans that sat low on his hips. Gabe could see the tattoo covering the back of his shoulders. He’d seen it before, but the Army tattoo had always intrigued him. It was an eagle with its wings spread out with the American flag behind it. The eagle was in grayscale while the flag was in full colors. Right beneath was written ‘This we’ll defend’ in bold letters.
Joker put the phone down and turned, his gaze landing on Gabe. He strode across the room, stopping in front of Gabe.
“I just talked to Saint. I told him we’re going to get the record now.”
Gabe nodded. He wanted to reach out and touch Joker, but he wasn’t sure what he was allowed to do. But then Joker smiled and planted a chaste kiss on his lips, only confusing him further. He followed Joker with his eyes as he walked to the bed and bent down to scoop up his clothes. Gabe tilted his head to the side, taking in Joker’s lovely backside. When Joker straightened, Gabe glanced away and walked to the coatrack where his cut was hanging. He shrugged into it and grabbed the key to his motorcycle.
When he turned back around, Joker was dressed and sitting on the bed, pulling on his boots. Joker stood and grabbed their bags from the floor, handing Gabe’s his own. Then they walked out of the motel room.
Joker
He led the way to the warehouse, acutely aware of Gabe’s presence the whole way. Sleeping with Gabe was definitely going to come back and bite him in the ass, but he didn’t care. He’d had his fair share of sex and nothing had ever compared to what he’d experienced with Gabe. Whatever it was between them, it was strong. He wasn’t sure what the hell to do with what he was feeling. He didn’t do relationships. He didn’t want anyone counting on him to make them happy.
He knew having sex with Gabe would get complicated real quick because of King and the club. King had pretty clear rules about his kids and, right now, Joker was breaking almost every single one of them.
He parked a street over from the warehouse and got off his bike. It was late enough that there wasn’t anyone around. They walked to the nearest corner where they had a good view of the warehouse. If they got lucky, Wade hadn’t found this place yet, but if he had, they would have to fight their way through.
“Gabe.”
Gabe turned, his eyes widening when they landed on the gun in Joker’s hand. He held it out to Gabriel who took it hesitantly.
“Why?”
“We’ve already walked into a bad situation once today. I’m not taking any chances.”
He was glad he’d brought the extra gun when they’d left the cabin. He hadn’t expected to use it, or to have Gabe use it, though.
He turned his attention to the warehouse. It was smaller than the other one and from where they were standing, they could see three windows and a door. There was no light on.
“Is it empty?” Gabe asked.
“Maybe. We’ll stay here and watch for a bit.”
If there were guards, they’d be making their rounds at some point. If not, there might still be someone inside. They waited for close to twenty minutes and still, there was no movement at all.
“Isn’t it a bit strange if there aren’t anyone here?” Gabe asked. “Wouldn’t Sean have someone watching this place? He’s got valuable things here, right?”
Gabe had a point and he’d been thinking it himself, too.
“King talked to Sean yesterday. This Wade guy would’ve had to have killed him between then and before we arrived.”
It was a fucked up situation. Sean was a decent guy, a bit annoying but extremely good at what he did and more than willing to support their cause. Wade might think they’d paid Sean handsomely, but really, for the kind of quality Sean had provided, he was selling it to them cheap.
“Let’s go,” Joker said.
They walked to the back entrance of the warehouse. He stayed vigilant and kept his hand on his gun. No light went on and no one came out the door as they neared. He stopped in front of the door and glanced over his shoulder at Gabe.
“Knowing Sean, there’ll be boobytraps inside.”
Gabe’s eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head. “Indiana Jones style?”
Joker couldn’t help his snort of laughter.
“Just stay vigilant and don’t touch anything,” Joker said.
He put a hand on the door handle and breathed in deeply before pushing it down. The door was unlocked, which didn’t exactly surprise him. Though it was unusual for Sean. He’d been there enough times to know the layout of the whole warehouse. What they were after was kept in a room in the middle of the building with only one point of entry. It made it easy to protect.
The motion activated light went on as they stepped inside. Joker pulled out his gun and led the way down the corridor. He had an acute feeling that the second they’d walked into the building, someone would’ve been alerted. But it could be one of Sean’s guys as well as it could be Wade. There was only one way to find that out.
It didn’t take long before they reached the room he was looking for and there was no sight of anyone else around, so he walked to the door and pushed down the handle. A loud click sounded, followed by a ticking noise. He held the handle down, not moving an inch. He swallowed hard, then cursed.
“That’s a booby trap, isn’t it?” Gabe asked, panic in his voice. “Fuck. Is it a bomb?”
“Just breathe, Gabe.”
“You were in the army. You know what to do with a bomb, right? I mean, you should definitely know.”
“You panicking won’t help me,” Joker said as he tried to get a better look at whatever device was connected to the handle.
It seemed to work much the same as a mine, pressure arms it and removal of that pressure detonates it. He could disarm it. Had done it way too many times overseas. Problem was, the bomb seemed to be on the other side of the door.
“What do I do?” Gabe asked.
Joker glanced up, finding Gabe standing right next to him. He looked into Gabe’s dark eyes filled with fear.
“You get the hell out.”
“Not a fucking chance.”
Joker let out a groan. Of course, the dumbass was going to argue with him about it even when there was a damned bomb involved.
“Look, I appreciate that you want to help, but there’s no way I can disarm the bomb from this side of the door,” Joker said.
Gabe looked thoughtful for a long moment before he said, “Have you tried opening the door? Maybe just a little? If we can get to the wires, we can cut them.”
“Fuck. Gabe. It could be wired to explode if I open the door.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Maybe not, but I’m sure as hell not gonna bet my life on it.”
Gabe put his hands on his hips. “Why are you always so fucking stubborn?”
He stared into Gabe’s eyes, seeing determination mixing with the fear. He was literally holding a bomb, telling Gabe to get the hell out but he refused. And Gabe was one to call him stubborn.
“Joker? Is that you?” came from the other side of the door.
“Sean?” Joker yelled back, surprised to hear the man’s voice.
Before he could say another word, the door was pushed open. Joker didn’t think, he just let go of the handle, grabbed Gabe and threw them both to the floor. He covered Gabe’s body with his own, holding his breath and squeezing his eyes shut.
Nothing happened. Nothing except for the sound of laughter coming from Sean.
“Well, look at you. I thought I recognized that grumpy voice,” Sean said.
Joker glared up at Sean and moved off of Gabe. He pulled his cut back into place and cleared his throat. Gabe was slower to get up, his gaze on Sean.
“What took you so long?” Sean asked.
“We thought you were dead. That’s what Wade told us,” Joker said.
Sean scoffe
d. “He wishes. The bastard killed half of my men and shot my house to pieces. I came here figuring it was my safest bet and that you’d find me or at least come for the records. I didn’t think I’d take you all damned day.”
Joker grunted and pointed at the door. “What’s with the fucking bomb?”
“Oh, yeah. I needed some protection.”
“So you put the bomb on the inside of the door?”
Sean pursed his lips and turned his gaze on the door. “Granted, I might not have thought that all the way through.”
“How the fuck were you going to tell who was on the other side? What if it hadn’t been someone whose voice you recognized?”
“As I said; I might not have thought this through.”
“No kidding,” Joker drawled.
Sean rolled his eyes, then glanced at Gabe, a smile widened his lips.
“Who is this?”
Gabe stepped forward to shake Sean’s hand. “Hi, I’m Gabe.”
Sean held onto Gabe’s hand for longer than Joker liked. He saw the way Sean looked at Gabe and his blood began to boil. No one got to look at him that way except Joker.
“Let go,” he growled.
Sean chuckled and released Gabe’s hand, stepping back. Gabe threw a dirty glance Joker’s way. Joker ignored it. Sean disappeared into the room to grab his things. Joker stepped in front of Gabe who was watching him with narrowed eyes.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Gabe asked, a frown on his forehead.
Joker felt a smile tease his lips and he reached out to cup Gabe’s cheeks, lowering his head to claim Gabe’s mouth in a searing kiss. Gabe hummed against his lips, his fingers finding their way into Joker’s hair. Joker moved one hand to the small of Gabe’s back to pull him closer. He licked along the seams of Gabe’s lips and Gabe opened to him with a gasp. He slid his tongue inside, tasting and exploring. He savored Gabe’s taste, the feel of his soft lips, and the way he responded to his touch.
He pulled back, his gaze meeting Gabe’s. Happiness shone from Gabe’s eyes. He couldn’t help his smile. It was almost absurd how much he wanted to claim Gabe as his.
“Damn.”
They both turned to see Sean leaned against the doorframe, watching them with a smug smile.
“Joker’s smiling and it’s not because he’s about to kill someone,” Sean said.
Joker glared at Sean for a moment before turning back to Gabe. Gabe’s gaze was on the floor, red tinting his cheeks. Fuck. He was becoming a big fan of that blush. He turned another glare Sean’s way, whishing the man gone so he could have his way with Gabe, again.
“You got it?” Joker asked Sean and when he nodded, holding up the briefcase, Joker said, “Then, let’s go.”
Gabe
Sean was driving a white car between him and Joker with Joker taking the lead. It was close to midnight so there weren’t many out on the roads. They weren’t going back to the motel. They’d already checked out and keeping Sean in town was too risky. They couldn’t risk leading anyone back to the cabin, either, so they were driving straight to Baltimore. It would be a long and taxing ride.
They were driving down a dark, empty road when he noticed a car get onto the road behind them. Gabe tensed and kept glancing in his mirrors. It was a dark car and it looked like he was trying to catch up with them. The gun Joker had given him was in his saddlebag, but he knew both Joker and Sean had theirs on them. He drove closer to Sean’s car then pulled up next to him, knowing Joker would notice. He pulled back behind Sean and glanced in his mirror. The car was seconds away from reaching them. He usually didn’t feel the least bit afraid of riding his bike but right then he was very much aware of how vulnerable he was on the road.
The car didn’t try to overtake, instead, it drove up behind Gabe. It stayed there for a while but then it started to speed up, pushing Gabe closer to Sean. He wasn’t sure what to do except for trying to keep his cool. He didn’t have a shot from where he was, and he doubted he’d even hit anything. He’d never shot a gun while moving nor riding his bike. All he could do was keeping the car from reaching Sean.
The car started to pull to the left, but Gabe followed, cutting them off. He reasoned they wouldn’t want a bike through the windshield. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the passenger window roll down and a gun pop out. He forgot how to breathe and barely registered the sound of a motorcycle coming up from behind them. A shot rang out, the bullet pinging off of Sean’s car. Gabe ducked down as low as he could on his bike.
Sean’s brake lights lit up and Gabe barely managed to hit his own brakes before crashing into Sean’s car. He drove up onto the side of Sean’s car, jerking his gaze forward. Joker was no longer in front of Sean.
The sound of gunshots made him glance in his mirror to see where they were coming from. Joker was driving behind the car, his gun in one hand. Joker shot out one of the car’s tires, making the car swerve, the driver pulling hard on the wheel. The car ended up in the ditch. Gabe turned shocked eyes Joker’s way. Joker holstered his gun, revved his bike and drove past Gabe. He followed suit, picking up speed quickly and getting back behind Sean’s car.
His heart was pounding like crazy in his chest. He could feel sweat running down his back. That had been close. Very fucking close. If he didn’t already think Joker was amazing, that would’ve cemented it. He’d just saved their lives and he’d seemed completely cool about it.
The rest of the drive was thankfully uneventful. When they reached the clubhouse, Gabe was more than ready to get off his bike. The gates opened for them and they drove inside. Gabe turned off his bike and pulled his helmet off. He hung it on his handlebars and dismounted, walking towards Sean’s car. Joker was already there and as soon as Sean stepped out of the car, Joker grabbed him by the scruff and pushed him back against the side of the car.
“One word about Gabe and me and I’ll pull your god damned spine out through your ass. You got that?” Joker hissed in a low voice.
Sean raised his hands, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he nodded. Joker let go and stepped back.
“King’s inside,” he said to Sean.
Sean threw a questioning glance at Gabe as he passed him on his way to the clubhouse. Joker didn’t turn around before Sean was through the door. Gabe glared at him, his jaw clenched.
“Gabe,” Joker said and took a step towards him.
“What the hell was that?”
Joker sighed and said, “I don’t want Sean to tell anyone, least of all King.”
“Why? It’s just sex, right? Why should he care?”
“Because no one touches King’s property and you’re still very much his property,” Joker said.
“Fuck you,” Gabe snapped. “I’m my own man. I’m not a kid needing my father’s protection. I don’t belong to him. In fact, there’s only one man I want to belong to.”
Joker stared at him in surprise. Gabe swallowed hard and before Joker could say anything, he turned on his heels and strode into the clubhouse. He found his father and Sean by the bar, Stiletto standing behind it. Sean put the briefcase on the ground.
“There you go. Thanks for sending Joker to come get me,” Sean said,
“I’d say ‘anytime’ but I’d prefer if this is the only time,” King said.
Sean nodded. “Here’s to hoping.”
King and Sean shook hands and then King told Stiletto to find Sean a room to sleep in. He grabbed the briefcase and walked towards the door and Gabe. He stopped next to Gabe, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“Good job, kid,” King said.
“Thanks, Pops.”
He watched King leave before going to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. He drank down half and went back outside where he found Joker waiting for him. He gave Joker the bottle so he could get something to drink, too, and when he was done, they drove home together.
Half an hour later he was turning in his bed, pulling the blanket between his legs. He was bone-tired and yet, he couldn’t sleep. Jo
ker had told him his father had ordered them to stay home the next day. A day off sounded great, if only he could get some sleep.
With a groan, he threw the blanket off. He knew what he wanted to do. He just wasn’t sure it would go over well with Joker. In the end, he got out of bed and walked to Joker’s room. There was no snoring so there was a chance Joker couldn’t sleep either. He opened the door and stepped inside. Joker sat up, a confused expression on his face when he saw Gabe.
“I can’t sleep,” Gabe said, rubbing his arms as he stood in the doorway awkwardly.
Joker arched a brow at him and said, “For someone who doesn’t want to be called a kid, you sure sound like one.”
“Shut up.”
He closed the door and bit his lip as his eyes darted towards the empty spot next to Joker. Joker sighed and lifted his blanket to the side. Gabe didn’t hesitate to crawl into Joker’s bed and pull the blanket around himself. Joker laid back down and Gabe snuggled up close, laying his head on Joker’s shoulder.
Joker made a disgruntled sound. “Of course you’re a damned snuggler.”
Gabe chuckled and pressed a kiss to Joker’s cheek before saying, “You know you love it.”
“Whatever you say.”
Joker tightened his arm around Gabe and pulled the blanket closer. Gabe was smiling as he fell asleep.
Chapter Seven
Gabe
THEY WOKE up in the early afternoon. The first thing Joker did was call King to get an update. Gabe stretched his arms over his head and made his way into the kitchen in search of food. He found some bread and grabbed the juice from the fridge. He put two pieces of bread into the toaster and put his hands on the edge of the countertop, leaning against it. He dropped his head forward, his eyes falling shut. He was still tired but he knew not to sleep too much. That would only make him more tired and grumpy.